Trolley for electric railways



(NoA Mdel.) l

D. A'. AINSLIE.

TROLL-:EY Po- BLBGTBIofBAILWAYs. No.'40`0,f725`. Patented Apr. 2, 188'9COV' INVENTOR:

ATTORNEY.

'c on two brass arms, d.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAV-ID A. AINsLIE,oE RICHMOND, vIRcIIvIA.

TROLLEY FOR ELECTRIC RAILVVAYS.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 400,725, dated April 2,1889.

. Application led July 27, 1888. Serial No. 281,202. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, DAVID A. AINSLIE, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Rich- -mond, in the county of Henrico and State ofinvention.

Figure 1 is a side view of the device and a section of its support as itappears on the roof of the motor-car. Fig.`2 is a side viejw,as seen ina transverse direction from that shown in Fig. l, omitting the cross-barg. Fig.l 3 is 4a plan View of the ltrolley staff, arms, and cylinder.`Fig. 4c is a cross-section of the tubesection on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.Fig. 5 shows Ia cylinder havingsegment-shaped grooves.

Fig. 6 shows a modification of the cylinder, in

which the taper is at one side only.

The trolley A, which makes contact with the overhead wire or electricconductor, (not shown,) consists of a brass cylinder having journals b,which tit and revolve in bearings This cylinder has a special shape,which has been devised to accomplish a useful result, which presentlywill be stated. The diameter of the trolley-cylinder A is much greaterat the center than at the ends, and, in general, it may be said the sizetapers or diminishes from the said large center both ways toward eachend. The center of the cylinder has a circumferential groove, e, aroundit, and the tapered sides of the cylinder have segment-shaped grooves f,or segment-shaped ridges, which are disconnected from each other. Thesedisconnected se.,- ment-shaped grooves or ridges are so placed that whenthe cylinder is revolving those on each side will serve as worms orthreads (either right-hand or left-hand spirals, according to thedirection of revolution,) which lead up to the center groove, e, whichextends all around. This cylinder with tapered sides and segment groovesor ridges on the sides, as described, enables the trolley to readilytake or connect with a wire, and especially a wire that may extend in anoblique directionsuch as a wire at a switch. ,A useful device wouldconsist of a cylinder tapered on one side only, as shown in Fig. 6, andprovided thereon with the grooves or ridges f.. The two arms d areconnected by a cross-bar, g, pivoted to the arms near thetrolley-bearings c, and the arms themselves are pivoted at h to a staff,I. The arms thus may swing laterally to a limited extent, as indicatedby broken lines in Fig. 3, and carry the trolleycylinderA laterally fromone side to the other.

The trolley-staff I is made of wood, and is pivoted at j onupwardly-curved arms k, whereby it has movement in a vertical plane, andsaid arms lc are attached to a tube-section, la', loosely occupying asuitable tube, socket, or bearing, Z, on the upper end of a tubularstandard, fm. The trolley-staff I and arms d have an inclined position.The upper end of the arms point away from the standard.

It will be understood that the trolley-staff I, supporting-arms k, andtube-section la may be turned or reversed in a horizontal plane Aon topof the standard fm, which is to be fixed in any suitable way on thecar-roof.

The upward inclination of the trolley-staff I and arms d should extendor point in a di-. rection opposite that in which the car is to move.The advantage, therefore, of turning the trolley-staff on top of thestandard fm will be apparent, to wit: When a car is about to reverse itsmovement or run in a direction opposite that it has been running, thenthe trolley-staff should be turned in a horizontal plane, so that itsupward inclination may point in the right direction.

To retain the trolley-statt` so that it will point in whicheverdirection it may be set, the Atube-section k is provided with two holes,n, one diametrically opposite the other, and the socket Z-also hasahole, fn. A flat spring, o, has a pin or lug, p, and is secured on theouter side of the socket Z. The pin or lug p passes through the hole 'n'in the socket, and also into one of the holes n in the tube-section lc.A wire, q, is attached to the spring o, and serves to draw the springand disconnect the pin or lug p from the hole in the tube-section.rIhereupon the trolley-staff may be turned half-way around.

IOO

The tube-section k has two rollers, r,within it, and a rod, s, passesdown between these rollers into the tube, and at its upper end and abovethe rollers and tube has a loop, s',

ywhich projects laterally. A link, t, has one end connected with the endof the trolley-staff I, and the other end occupies the said loop s onthe rod. A weight, u, is attached to the lower end of the rod s andhangs suspended within the tubular standard on.. A spring, c, isattached to the weightand base of the tube, and is used to quicken theaction of the weight without adding to the load.

. The rod s, weight u, and link t, by pulling down, serve to lift thetrolley-staff on its pivots j and keep the cylinder A elevated.

So far as concerns the construction of the trolley-staif, lateralswinging arms, and the parts which connect the staff to the standard andbalance the staif, it is immaterial what special shape the contactcylinder or Wheel may have. My invention therefore includes thecombination, with said constructions, of any shaped cylinder or wheelthat is adapted to make contact with the Wire or electric conductor.

Having described my invention, I claim-` 1. A trolley-cylinder, A, forelectric-motor cars having a circumferential groove, e, around itsgreatest diameter, and provided with a tapered side which hasdisconnected spirals leading up to the said circumferential groove, forthe purpose set forth.

2. A trolley-cylinder, A, forfelectric-motor cars, having a greaterdiameter at the center than at the end and tapered from said centertoward the end, and provided at the center with a groove, e, whichextends all around, and on the tapered side with segment grooves orridges f, which are disconnected from each other, but which lead up tothe said center groove, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a trolley-staff, I, pivoted to move in a verticalplane, arms d, connected by pivots 71J to the trolley-staff, so as toswing laterally, and a contactcylinder mounted to revolve in bearings atthe ends of said pivoted arms, as set forth.

4. The combination of a standard, a trolley-staif, I, mounted on thestandard and pivymounted to revolve in bearings at the ends of saidpivoted arms, and a weight pulling down on the trolley-staff, as setforth.

5. The combination of a tubular standard,

a trolley-staff mounted on the standard and' pivoted to move in avertical plane, a contactcylinder, a Weight in the tubular standard, andmeans for suspending the said weight to the trolley-staif.

6. The combination of a tubular standard, a trolley-staff mounted on thestandard and pivoted to move in a vertical plane, a contactcylinder, arod passing from the top down into the tubular standard, and provided atits yupper end with a laterally-projecting loop, a link, t, connectingthe trolley-staff and said loop, and a weight suspended from the rod inthe tubular standard.

7. The combination of a tube-'socket provided with a spring having a pinor lug, p, a pivot-arm attached to a section, 7c', which occupies saidsocket and may be turned therein, a trolley-staff, I, on the pivot-armand capable of turning in a vertical plane, and a contactcylinder.

8. The combination of a tubular standard, a tube-socket on top of thestandard, pivotarm having a tube-section which may turn in thetube-socket, a trolley-staff mounted on said pivot-arm, acontact-cylinder, a rod passing from the top down into the tubularstandard and provided at its upper end with a laterally-projecting loop,a link, t, connecting the trolley-staif and said loop, and a Weightsuspended from the rod in the tubular standard.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

DAVID A. AINSLIE.

Witnesses:

Ro. H. GILLIAM, J. C. EAsLEY.

